Alexander Wang

Tie-dye from Alexander Wang? No, fashion's resident "downtown" designer hasn't gone bohemian on us, although we all know he loves himself some Coachella—it's where he made his H&M collab news public back in April. At his Resort presentation here in NYC this morning, Wang said he was preoccupied with the idea of care instructions and things being ruined by washing, hence the Laundromat location of his lookbook pictures. His isn't conventional tie-dye, of course. Instead it comes on fine leather T-shirts with raw edges or on opaque PVC slickers. And it's often bisected with graphic stripes of contrasting color, the better to give it a gritty, city edge.

Following on from his Fall collection, which likewise put an emphasis on streetwise practicality, there were resin-backed patchwork utility jackets and cargo pants here; dungaree overalls with exposed ribbing trim; and knee-high, lace-up desert boots. If the boyish patchwork canvas pieces erred a bit stiff and oversize, the tie-dye looks struck the right note. They'll be collected by his fans alongside clever items like a terry-cloth sweater imprinted with the word "WET" and a sweatshirt emblazoned with his logo morphed into a bar code, as if the letters bled in, yes, the washing machine.